The Perfect Murder
Xenoger climbed along the ceiling and then landed on the floor behind Shirone without making a single sound. Then he pursed his lips and put his fingers into his mouth, pretending to pull something out.
A thread as hard and sharp as metal wire was pulled out from inside his body.
That would be enough.
'This will work perfectly,' Xenoger thought.
Xenoger's chosen method was called the "death noose."
He would tie the steel-like spider web into the shape of a noose, throw it at Shirone's neck, and then pull it tight. Shirone's head would pop off cleanly, like picking a grape from a vine.
'Seven seconds left,' Xenoger counted in his mind.
Xenoger stirred the thin thread in the air, and in an instant, he shaped it into a perfect noose loop.
Then, as it floated along the air current, the noose moved forward through the air. It floated like a kite above Shirone's head, drifting down silently.
It was a perfect murder—no sound, no sign, no smell to detect.
'Four seconds left. Three seconds. Two seconds,' Xenoger counted down.
The noose passed over Shirone's face and came down around his neck.
'Now!' Xenoger thought with savage glee.
Xenoger's mouth twisted into a grotesque smile. He pulled the thread sharply.
The razor-sharp noose made of spider web narrowed instantly, tightening into a circle smaller than a grain of rice in a split second.
"..." Shirone was now sitting on the floor, having rolled away.
Shirone looked back at Xenoger with wide eyes.
"What? Who are you?" Shirone demanded.
"..." Xenoger just stood there staring, like someone who had completely lost the ability to think.
No matter how much he thought about it, Xenoger couldn't understand what had just happened.
The moment the noose had tightened, Shirone had suddenly dropped down and rolled across the floor. Then he had looked back and made eye contact with Xenoger.
'What? Where did my calculations go wrong?' Xenoger wondered in shock.
Shirone was supposed to die. Because that was what the situation dictated. The plan had been perfect.
So there was nothing wrong with Xenoger's technique. It was clear that there had been some unexpected variable—something he hadn't accounted for.
Shirone swallowed nervously and glared at Xenoger with suspicion.
After checking the surroundings with his spirit zone, Shirone had been walking safely down the corridor. But suddenly, a loud voice in his head had shouted, 'It's dangerous!'
Without even thinking about it, Shirone had rolled across the floor immediately. And when he turned around, a man with a hideous, spider-like appearance was staring at him.
Xenoger asked in a grim, confused voice, "How... did you avoid it?"
Shirone wrinkled his brow at the words he didn't understand.
'How did I avoid it? Well, of course...' Shirone thought.
It was because he had heard someone's voice warning him. However, looking at Xenoger's reaction, it seemed that the assassin had not heard any voice at all.
Then there was a sharp crack—the sound of breaking glass.
Shirone rummaged through his pockets without taking his eyes off Xenoger. When he pulled out his hand, the jewel that Wulin had said was worth well over one hundred million gold was separated into two pieces, broken in half.
Xenoger's shoulders trembled when he saw it. The jewel in Shirone's hand, which Xenoger saw with his insect-like eyes, was definitely something he recognized.
"The Last Scream of the Jaeger Family?" Xenoger said with shock.
The Story of the Cursed Jewels
There was no logical reason why Shirone should have that particular object. However, there was no mistaking it—this was definitely The Last Scream of the Jaeger Family. Otherwise, there was no way Shirone could have survived Xenoger's perfect assassination technique.
'Damn it... of course,' Xenoger thought with frustration.
According to historical records, there was a wealthy Jaeger family in the western continent four hundred eighty years ago.
Then one day, a mysterious incident occurred. People from the main family began to be assassinated—one person dying each day. No matter how much the security was strengthened, without fail, one dead body would be found every morning.
The head of the family made every effort to find the culprit. But there was no way to stop the increasing number of victims day by day.
When the number of family members had fallen to less than half of what it had been, the family head made an extreme choice.
He sealed the mansion completely. No one could enter or leave.
But that very night, another family member died.
The family head realized with horror that there must be an assassin already inside the mansion. He interrogated all the remaining family members. However, he was unable to find any suspects among anyone, and as time passed, the number of family members—which had originally been two hundred eighty-seven people—decreased to only sixty-three.
The family was already ruined.
Everyone's spirits were broken and impoverished. They didn't even talk to each other anymore out of complete distrust and fear.
The family head didn't try to investigate anymore.
He decided to simply wait and see who would die next. As long as he could confirm the identity of the culprit eventually, it didn't matter even if the entire family died.
It was the two hundred eighty-sixth day since the assassinations had begun.
There were only two people left alive in the mansion.
It was the family head and his youngest daughter—the one he loved the most.
"No, how could you...?" the family head whispered in disbelief.
He couldn't believe the reality in front of his eyes.
He himself was not the assassin. So it was clear that the culprit had to be his fourteen-year-old youngest daughter.
"No! I'm not guilty, Father! I really am not!" the girl cried desperately.
The family head pulled out the sword from his waist.
He had to kill her. No matter how much he loved his daughter, everyone else had died because of her.
However, the family head found that he could not kill his daughter.
Because he was already dead.
The family head, who had been looking down at his youngest daughter's body—she had just turned into a corpse before his eyes—finally understood everything. His whole body began to shake.
At last, all the secrets were revealed.
The sword fell from his hand and both of his knees hit the floor hard.
"Oh no! It can't be like this! No!" the family head screamed.
No one else would die anymore—except for himself. He was the last one left.
He drank strong alcohol to steady his nerves and headed for his study. Then he sat down at his desk and wrote down all the events of the past two hundred eighty-six days in one long letter.
It is said that the fate of the family head was never confirmed after that.
Opinions were divided about whether he managed to leave the mansion alive, or whether he was the last one to be assassinated. But in any case, the Jaeger family disappeared completely from the world.
Two years later, a merchant bought the Jaeger family's mansion at a bargain price.
Because it had been the private property of the family head, no one could touch it legally. But after the required waiting period of two years had passed, the kingdom sold it at auction.
When the door to the mansion—which had been sealed for two years—opened wide, the first thing that caught the merchant's eyes were two hundred eighty-seven red jewels spread across the floor, glowing eerily.
This was the secret story behind The Last Scream of the Jaeger Family. It was also an example that the Curia auction company used as a reason why magical objects were not one hundred percent safe to use—sometimes they came with terrible curses or unexpected effects.
No one knows for sure where the special marbles first came from. Sometimes, an object gets a famous name, and people just make up exciting stories about it. But the story of
A merchant bought the old Yeager family mansion and discovered the power of the 287 marbles. The moment anyone touched one, they would hear a young girl's voice giving a warning. It was such a fast and clever alarm that not even the strongest warrior could avoid hearing it.
The merchant sold all the marbles at an auction and became the richest person on the continent. The powerful marbles were bought by kings and nobles from many countries. Today, people think only about 82 of them are left.
'It's true,' the assassin Xenoger thought to himself. This was a story he had learned during his training.
That's why what was happening now was so strange. A boy like Shirone should not have one of these marbles. Only the most important nobles or royalty could own one!
"That thing…" Xenoger said, his voice a creepy whisper. "Where did you get it? It's not something a child like you should have."
Shirone jumped to his feet and got into a fighting stance. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What were you trying to do to me?"
Instead of answering, Xenoger just waved his hand in the air. A white thread, like a spider's silk, wrapped around his wrist. He attached one end to the ceiling and pulled. His body flew up into the air at high speed.
Shirone immediately used his teleportation magic. But when he reappeared, Xenoger was already gone. He had completely vanished from sight.
'He's a master,' Shirone thought, his heart pounding. This man was far more powerful than anyone he had ever fought.
Xenoger was moving along the walls, chasing Shirone. He was sure he could kill the boy. And now that Shirone's warning marble was used up, nothing could save him.
Shirone felt like he couldn't escape. No matter how he hid, he could feel Xenoger's powerful presence everywhere, moving incredibly fast. It was suffocating.
'I'm going to die if this continues!' Shirone thought in a panic.
He gave up on running. In this desperate situation, he stopped and decided to fight back. He lowered his fists and unleashed his powerful berserk magic with all his strength.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAK!
The walls of the basement shook, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
"Kekeke! So you use magic, do you?" Xenoger cackled.
While many people respect wizards, the Spathur Assassination Clan had a special plan for fighting them. Xenoger pushed his lips out, and a sharp steel wire, tangled like a spider web, shot out. It was so fast that it pierced right through Shirone's shoulder.
"Keugh!" Shirone cried out in pain.
He quickly pulled the thread out and rolled across the floor. It wasn't a deadly wound, but it made him realize the huge difference in their skills. His defense magic was strong over a wide area, but it was weak against a single, sharp attack like that.
Xenoger was so skilled he could see through Shirone's magic and react instantly. He was even faster than Shirone could think!
Suddenly, Xenoger dropped down from the ceiling, landing with both hands on the floor like a perfect spider. His long tongue came out and licked his whole face.
"Kiki, good reaction," he hissed. "I was aiming for your heart, but you dodged it. A quick kid like you is my favorite. I'd love to tie you up in my spider web and play with you for a long time, but…" Shirone trembled at the chilling feeling in the man's voice. "…I'm a little busy."
Then, Xenoger disappeared again, even faster than before. Shirone was so overwhelmed he couldn't even think straight.
Wizards have amazing powers, but in a close-up fight, it's very hard to deal with someone whose body is trained to its limit. Xenoger was a master like none other. Trying to fight him head-on was a mistake.
Shirone turned and used his teleportation magic again. If he couldn't escape and couldn't fight, his only choice was to hide and buy himself some time.
A flash of light bounced off the walls, and he appeared inside a giant pantry. The room was huge, with enough food for hundreds of people, all stored in different compartments.
Shirone leaned back and hid behind a tall wall of bags filled with milk. He hadn't been casting spells for long, but he was already breathing heavily.
'Where will he come from?' Shirone thought, his eyes darting around nervously. 'The ceiling? Behind that tower of boxes? Or from the other side?'
He tried to find any trace of Xenoger.
But the truth was, Xenoger was in a place Shirone would never expect. He was stuck to the ceiling in the corner of the warehouse, using his mimicry skills to blend in perfectly.
'Kikiki, you fool,' Xenoger thought to himself, his eight eyes all locked onto Shirone. 'Did you really think common sense would work on me?'